Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

IDF distributes food and holiday supplies to troops ahead of Passover

The massive logistics effort includes matzah, meat, Haggadot and special dietary meals for troops across combat zones.

Representatives of IDF units hold food products donated by residents in the surrounding communities in Gush Etzion that will be giving away later to families of IDF soldiers, in Gush Etzion, in Judea and Samaria, on March 28, 2017, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover. Photo by Gershon Elinson/Flash90.
Representatives of IDF units hold food products donated by residents in the surrounding communities in Gush Etzion that will be giving away later to families of IDF soldiers, in Gush Etzion, in Judea and Samaria, on March 28, 2017, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover. Photo by Gershon Elinson/Flash90.

The Israel Defense Forces announced on Tuesday that it has completed large-scale preparations to ensure soldiers can observe Passover, even while deployed in combat zones.

According to the IDF, over 100 tons of matzah, 390 tons of beef, 420 tons of chicken and 64 tons of fish have been distributed. Additional supplies include 200,000 popsicles, 23 tons of kosher-for-Passover cookies, 13 tons of Passover pasta, and 45,000 kilograms of chocolate spread.

The Military Rabbinate, working in coordination with the IDF’s Technology and Logistics Division, also distributed more than 83,000 Haggadot. Special accommodations were made for soldiers with dietary restrictions, including 32,000 vegan meals, 8,400 gluten-free meals, 900 kilograms of gluten-free matzah and 7,700 gluten-free cakes.

Thousands of Passover packages are being delivered to troops in operational sectors such as Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Judea and Samaria. The Rabbinate has also issued field-friendly guidelines for conducting the Seder and observing the holiday under operational conditions.

See more from JNS Staff
A 25-foot buffer zone around houses of worship would include a penalty for protesters who breach it, though the state assembly speaker said nothing has been agreed to yet.
“An event at a city-owned pool that was publicly and indiscriminately advertised as ‘whites only’ would surely violate the Constitution,” the executive director of the state Public Safety Office wrote. “The same must be true here.”
“Texas will not allow illegal educational institutions to operate in our state,” Gov. Greg Abbott stated.
The gift from the Jan Koum Family Foundation is expected to triple the size of the Jerusalem hospital.
Investigators said Ndiaga Diagne acted alone and found no evidence of association with a foreign terrorist organization in the attack that killed three and wounded 15 outside a downtown bar.
“Today we’ve seen the defendant held fully accountable and fully responsible for the horrific hate crime that he committed and the act of antisemitism he committed,” said Michael Dougherty, Boulder County district attorney.